The Collector's Trove wrote:Howdy All,
Aw crud! Well I tell ya', I am not going to auction it. It was a mistake to leave it in the listing. I'll tell you why:
The pre-pub is not on the list, mainly because I think there is about to be a shift. Namely, that these are not pre-pubs but extras given to or cobbled together by employees, sans labels in late 1975.
The boxes themselves, with the
woodgrain running vertically, are the same as the TSR 1st and 2nd print Tractics, also produced in late 1975. Sutherland and Kask both had these sets, and they joined TSR in 1975. Rob Kuntz also claims to have one, grabbing an unlabled box cobbled together from parts.
Thus, I would more properly call these post-production seconds and employee copies. These 3 sets in particular were never sold or offered at EasterCon in 1973. Of course, my evidence is anectdotal from Dave Sutherland and Rob Kuntz and relative regarding the use of verticle grain boxes for 1975 versions of Tractics and, at least, one D&D 1975 2nd print
woodgrain. The Kask box provenance, is second hand, although I did see the box in person. Kask and Sutherland both started employment with TSR in late 1975.
I'd hate to sell something for a ton of money to someone only to discover the pre-pub theory fall on it's face the next day. Since it will be likely someone on this site that buys it, I would hate to have such a reversal play out.
I am sorry the set went up on the announcement, I had meant to delete that line.
Futures Bright,
Paul
Not sure if this is the best place to post this, but wanted to get it down and open up the possibility for further discussion...
I recently obtained a
really nice 2nd print
woodgrain, and the original owner was kind enough to provide me with a very detailed letter of provenance. It includes fascinating historical information on his purchase of the set directly from Gary, his early D&D group (with 8 players' names and the names of their characters), descriptions of Gary's DM-ing style, etc.
He writes that he purchased the 2nd print
woody in March 1975. Interestingly, he notes that [I'm deleting the name here] "My local
DM was ____ ____, and
he was using mimeographed or poor quality Xerox copies of the rules in 1973 when I started playing the game. He and John Lees were into Napoleonics and likely met Gary in 1973. Our band started playing shortly after that meeting in suburban Chicago." He then goes on to list the members of the group.
